Expanding coil carrying mandrel



Z /WEA ra t June 19, 1951 A. NAU-TOURON 2,557,510

EXPANDING COIL CARRYING MANDREL Filed Sept. 21, 1945 FIG-2 x Fig Patented June 19, 1951 EXPANDING con. CARRYING MANDREL Albert Nau-Touron, Le Vesinet, France, assignor to Societe a responsabilite limitee Fonderie de Precision, Nanterre, France Application September 21, 1945, SerialNo. 617,878 In France May 9, 1941 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires May' 9, 1961 This invention relates to an expanding coilbearing mandrel for the unwinding and eventually for the rewinding of yarn of all natural and artificial fibers, and more particularly for the unwinding of cakes and bobbins of artificial silk or rayon.

At its exit from the drawing-device, the rayon or other type of thread is wound on a cylindrical bobbin or in a centrifugal can generally of conical form, so as to constitute cylindrical or frustoconical annular cakes which are protected and held in shape, after their extraction from said bobbins or cans, by being covered with a suitable material for storage purposes.

These cakes, when used, are either disengaged or not from their covering and mounted on sheaths constituted by resilient tubes (in particular celluloid tubes), having a slit and bellmouthed ends, engaged on mandrels so as to facilitate unwinding, either sideways or end- These cakes have but little solidity and their mounting on cylindrical or conical mandrels of definite dimensions is often delicate especially because of variations in the inner dimensions .and profiles of the cakes.

This invention provides a remedy to the above drawbacks while at the same time reducing the time required for handling the cakes and even eliminating, in certain forms of embodiment, the use of sheaths.

The main object of the invention is to provide an expanding mandrel, for mounting on spindles of a textile machine, having a set of arms circularly mounted around the axis of said spindle,

4 Claims. (Cl. 242-130) each of said arms being movable in a radial plane with respect to said axis, and means to positively control the movement of said set of arms with a View to adjust their positions in accordance with the inner dimensions .of the fiber cake to be unwound.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a mandrel of the character described, means for bearing the arm against the inner surface of the fiber cake, when in operative position.

Other particular objects of the invention will appear from the following description referring to the accompanying drawings, given by way of example only, and in which:

Fig. l is a general axial section, in elevation, of a first form of embodiment of an expanding mandrel according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a general elevation, in longitudinal axial section, of a second form of embodiment of an improved mandrel according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a corresponding part elevation with a section made through line III-III of preceding figure.

Fig. 4 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 illustrates a form of embodiment in which are used for example four arms I radially displaceaole to an equal extent, with respect to axis my of plate or support 3. To this end, support 3 is provided with four radialrunways 20 in which the ends of arms I shaped as slide-blocks are engaged.

A rotatable disk 2! comprises an Archimedean spiral groove 22 in which corresponding projections 23 of the lower ends of arms I are engaged. Disk 2! is peripherally cut out so as to constitute a worm-wheel in mesh with a driving worm 24. Any other driving device could of course also be employed.

The improved mandrel meets the requirements of the two types of unwinding practically used in the textile art, i. e.:

(1) Unwinding sideways (2) Unwinding endways In the first method, the mandrel is rotated around the spindle of the frame.

In the second case, the mandrel is stationary as well as the coil of thread and rests on the table of the machine by means of a plate.

In the example of Fig. 1, in order to promote unwinding of the thread endways, an arm 25 is used, said arm being mounted on a rod 26 comprising a pivot 25a and journaled in bushings or the like 21 mounted in the tubular part I 9 fixed to plate '3. Arm 25 is fitted with a rod 28, preferably fiexible and removable. Thread 29 can be made to coil a certain number of times around rod 28, or not, so as to condition the threads tension. The winding tension exerted on thread 29, in the direction of arrow 30 urges arm '25 with its rod 28 into free rotation, so as to facilitate the guiding and uncoi-ling of the thread, the expans-ible mandrel being stationary.

In the form of embodiment more particularly illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the expanding mandrel comprises, for example, three arms Ia hinged by axes 6 on corresponding slide-blocks lk. These slide-blocks He are radially movable along runways 26a uniformly spaced, provided in plate 3a.

Arms la carry, beyond their hinges, extensions 5a carrying a spring 1 which urges arms la outwardly and at the same time urges the slideblocks in a centripetal direction. The run of these slide-blocks is limited by a plate 2 la comprising three identical cams 22a on which are at all times brought to bear rollers 23a or heads fitted on slide-blocks H;

The angular displacement of arms la in the direction opposite to that indicated by arrow F is restricted by a stop 50 which, if need be, may be made adjustable. This stop is initially designed or adjusted in such a way that in the extreme outward position of the arms with respect to the slide-blocks, the useful surfaces of these arms will theoretically be parallel to general axis my of the mandrel.

The position of the multiple cam can be adjusted at will by means of an arm fixed to said cam and in which a ball 52 is mounted in conjunction with a spring 53. This ball, constituting a resilient locking device for the arm, and consequently for the multiple cam, can engage in corresponding notches 54 provided under one portion only of plate 3a.

For the purpose of balancing the device as a whole, it is necessary on one hand to balance plate to because of the hollow provided in its rim for the passing of arm 5|, and on the other hand, to balance the multiple cam because of the presence of its adjusting arm 5|. To this end, the flange of plate 3a, in its notched portion is made broader so as to compensate for the reduction in height required to allow for the run of lever or arm 5|, and the multiple cam is provided with an additional load 55 on the side opposite to arm 5|.

It will also be noted that, according to a feature of the invention, each arm la is provided at its lower portion, with a shoe 56 outwardly bent and preferably perpendicular to the arm, these shoes serving to vertically maintain the cake.

Preferably, the upper face of these shoes will be provided with suitable undulations 51 to promote unwinding of the lower coils of the cake.

The various improvements hereabove described lead to particularly profitable technical results. Thus arms i a, whose upper ends may be slightly inwardly bent (Figs. 2 and 3) to facilitate the introduction of the cake, automatically assume the angular position corresponding to the cone angle of the bore of the conical cake fitted on the mandrel.

The variations in the cone angle of the cakes are of no consequence and conical or cylindrical cakes can indifierently be mounted. In all cases, the cake fitted onto the mandrel is maintained thereon exactly and automatically according to the generatrices of its inner surface, which fact further promotes unwinding due to the perfect positioning and holding in shape of the cake on arms I of the mandrel.

The balancing of the whole mandrel in all positions of the cam or of the arms avoids the occurrence of shiny threads being produced due to tensions caused, for example, by the rotative vibration of the system during service.

It is obvious that the forms of embodiment described and illustrated above are only given by way of indication and not of limitation. Any changes or alternatives which do not alter the main features as described above or the object pursued, are comprised within the scope of the present invention. Thus the undulations or projections provided on the shoes 56 may likewise be provided on the face of the arms themselves, the undulations or projections on the arms bein or not in the same vertical or inclined planes as the undulations or projections on the shoes.

Moreover, these undulations or projections may be rectilineal or spiral, having an inclination and a pitch suitably selected for a perfect unwinding of the coils of the cake, or other type of bobbin.

I claim:

1. An expanding coil-bearing mandrel, for winding and unwinding a coil of thread or fiber cake mounted on a spindle of a textile machine, comprising in combination: a support having radial grooves, means for mounting the support on the spindle, a set of arms carried by the support for movement in radial planes with respect to the axis of the spindle, thereby to secure the coil radially, each arm having, at the base thereof, slide-blocks each engageable in a radial groove, means for vertically maintaining the coil on the arms, means for bodily sliding the blocks in the grooves and means for holding the blocks in desired position, for adjusting the position of the set of arms relatively to the spindle axis in accordance with the inner dimensions of the coil.

2. An expanding mandrel as in claim 1 including a pivotal connection between each arm and the respective slide block.

3. An expanding mandrel as in claim 1 wherein the adjusting means comprises a plate mounted for rotation relatively to the spindle and below the support, a cam member integral with the plate for each arm, a roller connected to each slide-block in engagement with one of the cam members, a lever fixed to the plate for rotation thereof and means for resiliently locking the lever in adjusted position.

4. An expanding mandrel as in claim 3 including means for resiliently urging the arms outwardly in a horizontal direction.

ALBERT NAU-TOURON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 854,651 Mills May 21, 1907 1,630,197 McKenzie May 24, 1927 1,958,838 Roellofs et a1 May 15, 1934 2,135,913 Ralston et al Nov. 8, 1938 2,285,826 Naumann June 9, 1942 

